Cardio - Part 1
Cardio, or, cardiovascular activity is when you perform any movement or exercise that increases your heart rate.
What happens to your body when you are performing cardio exercises?
Your heart starts to beat faster
You start to breathe a little harder
More muscles begin to demand oxygen and blood
☀️ Body temperature rises due to increased blood pressure and blood pace through the veins.
For the most part, the legs are generally used in cardio activities (however specific upper body cardio exercises can be performed)
Samples of cardio can vary from light activity to high intensity training, below are some examples, ranging from light to intense:
Walking the dog
gentle stroll
swimming
dancing
cycling
skipping
rowing
jogging
rowing
cross training
step machine
football
rugby
tennis
netball
badminton
squash
(any other sport!)
...and many many more!
These are just a few examples of what activities you can do to increase your heart rate, after all this is the simplest way to get fitter and healthier - something is better than nothing!
The benefits of cardio exercise:
Healthier heart - as your heart is beating faster and trying to keep up with demand, it will adapt and get more efficient at it! so those stairs may not become as much of a burden!
metabolism increase - as you are demanding more from your muscles, you will also require more energy, which means you will help burn fat and that's always a bonus!
shorter recovery times - as you get fitter you will be able to recover faster doing the same activity, which only means one thing - you got to step it up!
Increased immune system response - with a greater fitness level your body is able to fight off more bacteria and illnesses due to a more efficient white blood cell count, and these little guys fight bacteria before it spreads!
Increased mood - during a cardio workout you may feel like you want to kill anyone who comes near you, but afterwards you will feel so much better as the release of adrenaline and endorphins to help lighten your mood! Exercise reduces cortisol which is a hormone that is released when we are angry, in fear or under stress, making us feel awful
These are but a few of the benefits and there are many more, so if you don't already, in any way, form or routine - get moving! it does not need to be long!
